Attachment for the sounding-boards of stringed instruments.



J. SHELDON.

ATTACHMENT FOR THE SOUNDING BOARDS 0F STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIOATIONIILED JULY 30, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

ESSES II.!.A/ 4 I axw INVENTOR ATTORNEY JESSE SHELDON, 0F VINELAND, NEWJERSEY.

ATTACHMENT FOR THE SOUNDING-BOAIRDS OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn SHELDON, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Vineland, in the county of Cumberland and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachmentsfor the Soundlng-Boards of Stringed Instruments, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for improving the toneof stringed instruments, and it consists of a weight or weights ofmetal, preferably mushroomshaped, Which are secured to the soundingboard back of the strings.

The invention is particularly applicable to pianos, the tone of which itvery much improves, but it may be used with almost or quite as goodsresults upon the sounding boards of violins, guitars, or other stringedinstruments.

I have found that I obtain the best results with a mushroom-shapedweight, that is with a Weight having a comparatively slender stem whichcarries at its outer end a heavy head, the inner end of the stem beingfurnished with a base which carries centrally and integrally a screw bymeans of which the device may be attached to the sounding board. Inpianos I get the best results by using two instruments, a lighter onesecured to the sounding board back of the treble strings and a heavierone back of the base strings, the particular points for securing theinstruments to the sounding board being determined by experiment.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1, is a perspective view of my attachment for sounding boards, and Fig.2, a plan of the back of a piano sounding board showing two of mydevices secured thereto.

The attachment consists, preferably, of a Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed July 30, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910. Serial No. 510,411.

casting, iron usually, which has a base a, a stem 6, and a head 0. Thebase a carries a screw d by means of Which the instrument is secured tothe sounding board.

For the proper action of the device all of its parts should be perfectlyrigid, any loose parts defeat its purposes by setting up vibrationswhich produce rattling sounds and for this reason the screw which isemployed to secure the device to the sounding board should be so carriedby the device that there will be no possibility of its working loosetherein, hence I prefer to cast the metal of the base a around the screwor to secure the latter to the former by brazing or soldering.

In Fig. 2 the instruments are shown attached to the back of a pianosounding board, the larger instrument 1 being placed back of the basestrings, the smaller instrument 2 being secured back of the treblestrings. The best points for attaching the instruments are determined,usually, by experiment.

The instrument is particularly useful in improving the tone of cheappianos or those having a harsh and metallic sound.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

The combination with the sounding-board of a musical instrument, of anattachment consisting of a base, a stem projecting from said base, aheavy symmetrical head carried by said stem, and a screw carried by saidbase, said base, stem, and head being cast in one piece and said screwbeing immovably secured to said base.

JESSE SHELDON.

Witnesses:

L. E. KALER, MAX RUBIN.

